


It's Just Us Tonight

by ItsEitherRenOrAkira



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Multi, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 17:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15734151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsEitherRenOrAkira/pseuds/ItsEitherRenOrAkira
Summary: Three Phantom Thieves stay home sick and watch a movie. One of them feels an emotion.





	It's Just Us Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> if no one is gonna make the polyamorous persona 5 content everyone wants then i'll just have to do it myself

Akira was laid up on the leather couch, clad in his favorite sweater and his green sweatpants. The TV was off, a solid black mirror reflecting him, Ryuji, and Ann, moaning in pain. How he’d gotten sick, he didn’t know (probably when he forgot to bring his jacket outside and it started snowing), but whatever happened, he’d gotten them sick as well when they slept next to each other last night. Unfortunately, this meant they couldn’t come to Urban Ephemera, the exhibit where one of Yusuke’s paintings was being shown at. At least Makoto promised to take pictures. As it stood, the three of them were stuck inside while fat flakes of snow melted against the windows. Everything hurt, he couldn’t breathe out of one nostril, and the medicine made him dither in and out of consciousness.

This sucked.

“I’m sorry, guys,” he said for the fiftieth time that day.

“Dude, it’s okay,” said Ryuji, who was wrapped in a blanket with his feet up on the couch. “We’ve been through worse together, right?”

“Yeah,” said Ann, laying on the armrest in one of Ryuji’s tank tops. “This is-” She interrupted her train of thought by taking a loud, raggedy sniff through her nose.

“ _Geeeez_ , Ann,” said Ryuji, eyeballs turning ever so slightly in her direction.

“Oh, shut up,” she said. She was too tired to actually sound angry. “You’ve done way worse.” Ann paused for a moment. “Wait, what was I saying again?”

“You were agreeing with Ryuji,” said Akira.

“Oh, yeah. As I was gonna say, this is nothing compared to a Palace. You know what I mean?”

“Doesn’t feel like it,” said Akira. His head had lolled downward to look at the floor. For a minute, he wiggled his toes in the carpet before picking up his head and looking at the TV. Nope, still off. A migraine flared in his temples for a moment, and he clutched his head with a hiss.

“Guys, I’m getting booooooooored,” said Ryuji. He drew out “bored” like a wolf’s howl.

“Me too,” said Ann. She then picked up her head off the armrest with as much energy in her eyes as she could muster. “Hey, I know what we could do.”

“Coffee?” said Akira. Coffee was his answer to everything.

“Coffee’s your answer to everything!” said Ann.

Akira deflated. He really wanted some coffee right now.

“No, what I was thinking was, why not watch a movie? When was the last time we had a movie night?”

It might’ve been the medicine, but Akira couldn’t remember.

“I’m down for a movie night,” said Ryuji. He turned to Akira. “What about you?”

With as little effort as possible, Akira nodded.

“Then it’s settled!” said Ann. “I’ll go get the movie.” With a giant “HRK”, Ann lifted herself off the couch and got up to root through the cabinet of DVDs they kept around at Akira’s insistence.

“Hey, Ann,” said Ryuji, “if you don’t mind me asking, I don’t really have a preference, but could you please not pick a-”

Before he could complete his sentence, Ann spun around with an “Aha!” and proudly held her movie of choice aloft for them to see, called “ _Milady’s Malady_ ”. Akira didn’t remember buying it; must’ve been Ann’s. The box art had a man and a woman front and center, the man holding a stuffed animal under his arms and the woman with a hospital bracelet around her wrist.

“Aw, come on, Ann!” said Ryuji. Akira and Ann recoiled from the volume as a sharp pain cut across their skulls. “You know I hate chick flicks.”

“First of all, Ryuji,” she said, “it is a romantic comedy, not a chick flick. And second, have you even watched a romantic comedy before?”

“Well- uh- I mean-”

“Exactly.” Ann took a deep breath and steadied herself, wiping her nose on Ryuji’s shirt.

“Dude, you better wash that,” said Ryuji

“Relax, I will. Now then, I’m sure if you give this movie a chance, you’ll like it. It’s really, really good.” She batted her eyelashes as quickly as she could, giving Ryuji her best sad eyes. “ _Pleeeeeeeeease?_ ”

Ryuji grimaced. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d be able to say no to those. He looked over his shoulder at Akira. Akira raised his eyebrows in the universal sign of “You’re on your own”. Ryuji threw up his arms in defeat. “Agh, fine! We’ll watch the damn movie. Happy?”

Ann coughed up a lung before saying, “Very.” She strolled over to the TV and popped the disk in the player. Turning off the lights and flopping back onto her spot on the couch, the three of them began watching.

 _Milady’s Malady_ was about an American comedian, Karim, who struggles with the rigours of becoming famous in the world of comedy as well as his highly traditional family. He meets a woman named Erin and, much to his family’s disapproval, they begin dating, but the woman falls ill shortly into their relationship. Akira had seen many a movie in his time, but he hadn’t expected the movie to be as good as it was. He didn’t particularly care for _Love, Possibly_ , one of the first movies Ann took him to see, but _Milady’s Malady_ was funny, heartwarming and heartbreaking in all the best possible ways. He had to give Ann credit; she sure picked a good one.

About midway through, Karim was visiting Erin in her hospital room. He’d brought her a bouquet of flowers, a balloon that said “Get Well Soon!”, and the stuffed animal from the box cover. He was bent over the bed, holding Erin’s hand.

“Do you think there’s a way we can be together?” Karim said.

“I…” Erin paused, hesitating. “I don’t know.”

Akira felt Erin’s uncertainty in his chest like a taut guitar string about to snap. He looked over at the others to see what they were feeling. Ann had tears welling in her eyes, which was about what he expected. Ryuji, however, was stoically staring ahead, no reaction whatsoev-

Waitasecond.

Akira could’ve sworn he saw Ryuji’s lip quiver. Probably nothing, just a trick of the no wait his lip definitely quivered. Holy shit, Akira couldn’t believe it. Ryuji had only rarely been this emotional beforehand, and he usually just yelled and swore his feelings out. Akira tried to recall the last time he’d seen Ryuji get anywhere close to crying, but came up short.

And then the light from the TV screen glinted off the wetness in Ryuji’s eyes. Akira gasped involuntarily.

Ryuji turned to look at him. “What’s up, dude?” As he did, a single, perfect tear started rolling down his cheek.

“Ryuji,” said Akira, “are you… crying?”

Ryuji squinted. “What the hell are you-” He stopped and brushed his cheek with his hand. As he felt the straight line the tear left on his face, his jaw dropped.

“H-hey,” he said, “don’t get the wrong idea, m-my eyes were just-”

“ _Awww, Ryuji!_ ” Ann threw her arms around him. “So sensitive!”

“Aw, shuddup!” said Ryuji, blushing. “My eyes are watering because I’m sick!”

Akira put his arm around Ryuji’s shoulder. “It’s okay to cry, dude.”

“I know, but I’m not. Crying!”

Erin gripped Karim’s hand with both of hers onscreen. She brought it up to her lips and kissed it gently. Her eyes were red and fit to burst. “You don’t have to do this, Karim. Not for me.”

Karim quickly put his hands on either side of Erin’s head and planted a kiss on Erin’s forehead before hugging her closely. “Of course I do.”

At the same time Karim said it in the movie, Ann said, “I’d do anything for you.” Akira could tell she liked this movie. Ann pulled Ryuji closer to her, giggling as she did.

“Eff off, dude,” said Ryuji, though Akira could see more tears amassing in the corner of his eyes and a clear quaver undercut his voice. He reached over and kissed the side of his head.

“Aw, come on!” said Ryuji. “You guys always do this to me!”

“What, I can’t kiss you anymore?” said Akira. “By the way, you should wash your hair.”

“I washed it this morning!”

Ann kissed the opposite side of Ryuji’s head. “No, Akira’s right. You should definitely wash it. Smells _blech_.” She wrinkled her nose.

Ryuji’s whole face was a luminous red. “Is it ‘Pile on Ryuji Day’ or something? God!”

“No, that’s July 3rd,” said Akira.

Ryuji looked offended. Usually, it was Ann who did the roasting. Before he could say anything else, however, Ann’s phone went off with a text message from the groupchat. Letting go of Ryuji, she picked it up and checked it. “Oh, it’s Makoto. She sent us some pictures from the exhibit.”

“Open it up,” said Akira. Ann unlocked her phone and navigated to the messages app. Makoto had sent them three pictures with the caption, “Wish you guys were here! ♡” The first picture was of the crowd in the venue, a bustling, dimly-lit building with a low ceiling.

“Holy crap,” said Ryuji, having calmed down a bit, “lotta people there.”

“I know, right?” said Ann. “Good for Yusuke.”

The second photo was of Yusuke himself, wearing that weird blazer of his, standing in front of the painting that got him into the exhibit. It was of a winding subway system, jagged, twisted, and thorny, with a lone figure standing in the middle, their posture uncertain, as two ominous lights appear before them emerging from the darkness of the tunnel.

“Look familiar?” said Akira.

“Yeah,” said Ryuji, sniffling a little. “Mementos.”

“Is this cheating?” said Ann. “I feel like it’s cheating.”

“Well, it’s from personal experience,” said Akira. “Just… personal experience very few people have.”

“I guess,” said Ann.

Ann swiped to the third photo. It was a picture of all of them there. Makoto, Yusuke, Futaba, and Haru. Morgana was even peeking out of Haru’s purse. They were standing in a line, beaming brightly, beautiful, resplendent, happy. Warmth and security spread throughout Akira’s chest. Just looking at it made him feel a bit better.

“Aw, this is such a cute photo,” said Ann. “Don’t you think, Ryu...ji?”

Between them, Ryuji shook with sobs. He was staring directly at the floor, a tear or two occasionally dripping from his eyes onto the carpet.

Ann picked up his head, her voice taking on a half-sympathetic, half-playful tone. “Hey,” she said, “are you okay, babe?” Akira smirked. She only brought out “babe” for the really romantic moments.

In response, Ryuji put his hand on her chin and gently brought her towards him, and they kissed tenderly. When they broke away, Ryuji rested his forehead on hers and said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” said Ann.

Ryuji turned around to face Akira. Akira leaned in and met Ryuji halfway, kissing him, feeling his soft lips on his own. Pulling away, they kept their faces close, their noses touching.

“I love you,” said Akira.

“I love you, too,” said Ryuji, sobbing again.

For the rest of the night, Akira and Ann comforted Ryuji as he let it out, barely paying attention to _Milady’s Malady_ anymore. They rubbed his back, ran their fingers through his gold hair, let him lean on both of them, and occasionally kissed him on the cheek or forehead, all while Ryuji was racked with sobs. By the end of the night, he was resting his head on Akira’s shoulder, a little tear still occasionally leaking out as Ann rubbed his back, when the three of them heard the door unlock.

“Guys, we’re home!” Makoto said, flipping the lights on to the living room. Looking over at the couch, she gasped as she saw Ryuji, eyes bright red and puffy and cheeks slick with tears. Makoto threw her purse on the nearby table and raced over to him. She got in front of him on one knee and put her hands on his shoulders. “Ryuji! Are you okay? Is something wrong? What happened?”

Ryuji wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her inside the blanket with him. He pulled her into a tight hug. “I love you.”

“Oh.” Makoto reciprocated, gently embracing him. “I love you, too, Ryuji.” She looked over his shoulder at Akira and Ann, clearly confused.

“We were watching a movie,” said Akira.

“Guess it really spoke to him,” said Ann.

“Wooaaaaaaaah.” Futaba had walked in, accompanied by Yusuke and Haru. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ryuji cry before.”

Morgana’s head peered out of Haru’s bag. “Wait, what? Ryuji crying? Now I’ve seen everything.”

“Indeed,” said Yusuke, framing the moment with his fingers. “There is a powerful aura of affection surrounding this scene. I believe this would make an excellent painting, don’t you all think?”

Haru, who’d already put her bag on the kitchen countertop, started walking towards Ryuji, arms extended and a wide smile on her face. Ryuji took one arm off of Makoto and turned it into a group hug between the three of them. Ann and Akira rose from the couch and joined in.

“I asked you all a question,” said Yusuke, having stepped backwards to include everything in the frame. “Don’t you think that-”

“C’mon, dude,” Futaba said, grabbing his forearm and dragging them into the group hug. They all held each other tightly, as though they were the only people in the world.

“I love all of you,” said Ryuji.

“We love you, too, Ryu-chan,” said Haru.

“Even me?” said Morgana, sitting on the counter.

“...I guess?” said Ryuji. It was about as close to a “yes” as Morgana would get that night.

“If I get sick because of this warm, romantic moment,” said Futaba, “it’s on your ass, Ryuji.”

“I know, I know. Don’t gotta say it.”


End file.
